Off
to the cool climes of N'Eliya. The date, Sunday the 13th, the last day of
the old year. The streets of Colombo snooze in a late Sunday sleep, at
nine fifteen in the morn, as I make my way to the Colombo Hilton, the
collecting point of the big journey ahead.

A woman with short wavy hair greets me inside, while a bubbly looking
man bustles around in the background. A thin, skeletonish looking man,
with a hat in hand stands talking to an elderly British couple.

Their names turn out to be John and Renee. John, a retired CNN Travel
Editor, and his wife Renee who is a teacher, together with six others from
England, are here on invitation. To go for the big event of the season, up
country - The SriLankan Airlines' Governor's Cup.

We board a huge tourist bus, lurching in the corner like a caterpillar.
As the bus moves on, the multi storeyed aristocrats of the city give way
to their inferiors. The rough, rugged rurals. Small "Kades"
selling bunches of green bananas hanging from their roofs, little cottages
with big gardens, lush green paddy fields. The old are at their doorsteps.

The children playing in the streets. The lovers in the shade. People
walking. People cycling. People just standing by, having a chat, looking
at us going past. A kingfisher is perched on top of a telephone wire,
running across a paddy. A brown train rushes by on and off, sometimes far
away, lost amidst the trees and shrubbery of the distance, sometimes so
close you can hear its heart beat. Chug. Chug. Chug.

3.30 P.M. We are on the road again. As we trudge on upwards, it gets
cooler. The road is windy and the bus weaves itself in and out and round
about the rugged, shrubbery slopes. As soon as we pass the silky white,
delicate fall of Devon we make a pit stop at St.Clare's for tea and
biscuits. By the time we reach the busy town of N'Eliya it is about 5.00
p.m.

The climate is nice. Cool but not chilly. The streets however resemble
the five thirty p.m. traffic of Colombo. Trudging our way on to St.
Andrews amidst the jam, we see the cause of it. Portable "kades"
have been stacked up on either side of the road. A strawberry sensation
here. A barbecue feast there.

Vans are parked on the side of the streets, music blaring from its
insides, people dancing haywire on the out. Loud speakers fixed up all
over the city blare out various announcements and commercials, like a
Colombo fair. The streets are packed with the whole of Colombo buying
strawberries, butterfruits, carrots, cabbages, ice-creams and what not. A
policeman too stands in the middle of the junction, to complete the
picture. It is the N'Eliya Season.

Dropping some of the crowd at St. Andrews we make our way back through
that street fair to N'Eliya's Grand Hotel. Luscious, colourful flowers of
various colours of sunny orange, lipstick red, baby pink and purple bloom
in full in its huge garden, decked up in English style with white chairs
and tables with umbrellas sprucing it up. SriLankan banners greet us along
to the doorstep.

We are within a few steps walking along the luxurious maroon carpet. I
get my key. Room 167. Up a few steps, down a corridor and I'm in. The
sound of the keys of a piano dancing can be heard jingling away.

At 7.30 P.M. We are all decked up for the evening's Gala dinner.
Downstairs in the Supper Club, the place is in a flutter, filled with
people from all over the world. England, Japan, India, Canada, Hongkong,
Singapore and Malaysia. Most of these guys and gals as it turned out to be
were from the media. A scrumptious dinner in candle light, followed by the
music of Misty and Shakthi, with the voice of Corinne Almeida joining in
later on, it was an evening of dance as well.

Monday morning. We are given a wake up call at seven in the morning
(???). A morning change, breakfast, a stroll around the garden and we are
ready for the day. It is a lovely sunny morning, just like in the story
books. The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The grass is green. The ideal
day for racing.

And to the race course we go. Climbing those steep steps of the
grandstand on high heeled shoes is a nightmare.

Misty beats up a tune bringing on the moods of yesteryear. Everyone is
dressed up gaga. Hats, elegant frocks with frills and shawls, coats and
ties. It's like entering another era of time. It is not just Sri Lanka. It
is EngLanka.

The names of the horses participating in the day's races, by the way
are "Simply Inspiring". In the "Southern Choice" of
our country there is a "Timeless Appeal" with a "Certain
Smile" in the names of these "Turn to Gold" guys. There is
a "Singing Melody" about it.

A "Fire Cracker". All "Decked up" there is "Mr
Belvedere", with "His Excellency" the "Orange
King", together with "Lady Regina", the "Lady of the
Lake", and "Libo Queen", "Helen of Troy".
"Hi- Gorgeous". Escorting them onto the battle field is
"Ancient and Stormy Warrior", geared up by "Nuclear
Power". The "Avenger" raises the "Battle Call"
and the many races to the end begin.

The horses are straddled by multi coloured jockeys who seem to half
leap off their backs as the horses gallop away, racing each other. They
run breezing against the wind, their manes blowing about, their socked
hooves thumping the ground. Dollop. Dollop. Dollop. It is over within a
few seconds.

11.30 A.M. The horses are cast aside as an open air fashion show
designed by Keerthi Sri Karunaratne and Lou Ching Wong, hair decked up by
Ramzi Rahman steal the clock for a while. Sri Lankan evening attire of the
fifties, together with many 'My Fair Ladies' pranced about the cat walk to
the music of the street where you live, to make you dance all night. It
was indeed a lost era brought back to life.

The Eliza Doolittles were fabulous. The frilled skirts, feathery hats,
purses, shawls, and laced umbrellas. The Freddy Eynsford-Hills in grey top
hats, tail coats and walking sticks. It was old England come to life, with
every Duke and Earl too having their own special ballroom dance.

It is the event of the race. The Sri Lankan Airlines Governor's Cup
2003. Crowning Star and the lot seem as impatient and excited as their
jockeys and everyone else, their feet on the move all the while, coming
forward - going back, lining up once more.

The whistle blows. The race begins. The hooves of the horses thunder
the ground and they are off to the distance, Pick Pocket in the lead. The
commentator screams on as the horses race each other.

They disappear from view for a second and when they do show up there is
a fierce battle ahead. Court of Appeal who was in the position of number
three is moving up. He's neck to neck with Pick Pocket and a neck to neck
finish it is to the end, with Anurath Abeyratne's horse beating his wife
Maline's, Pick Pocket. Court of Appeal is the winner of the SriLankan
Airlines' Governor's Cup 2003.

A totally unexpected turn of events Abeytratne says later, having got
the glorious award from Peter Hill, CEO of SriLankan Airlines, "we
were all expecting Pick Pocket to win". In the end however Court of
Appeal ridden by V. Mahialingam, who says, the horse always had a spot of
trouble in the starting point, showed everyone what he had got. Horse
power!